Actually turning the power on the unit on? No. (there’s no power switch - it’s always on when you plug it in) Starting the cook? Most definitely, yes. (lots of people would use an ice bath to be able to start a cook remotely from work). It’s very important that you do some research into that if you plan to do it - you don’t want your meat sitting at room temperature for several hours - that’s how people get food poisoning.